AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
327 
new, independent “ Department of Agriculture,” 
and put at the head of it some honest, intelligent 
man, and we may then have something that will 
be not only a vast benefit to the country at large, 
but a credit to us as an agricultural people. Of 
the rumored $100,000 defalcation in the “Gov¬ 
ernment Seed Store,” we shall have more to say 
when the truth is known. 
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Written for the American Agriculturist.—Prize Articles . 
Farm Fencing.VIII. 
In addition to the varieties of farm fence which 
we have described, the last, and as yet doubtful 
application of the Wire Fence, remains to be con¬ 
sidered. Were our climate more equable in its 
temperature, we think there could be little or no 
question of the entire practicability of wire being 
extensively used as a cheap and sufficient substi¬ 
tute for boards. The writer has seen it adopted 
with good effect on some farms, and on others, 
under like apparent circumstances, it proved a 
failure. Intense frost contracts, or excessive 
heat expands the wire in length ; consequently 
there is a difficulty in giving the wires, as they 
stretch along the several posts, such exact de¬ 
grees of strain or tension, as will contract with 
the frost, without breaking, or stretch with the 
heat without sagging to a degree of preventing 
its efficiency against unruly cattle. 
It is our opinion, however, that a good wire 
fence can be made to stand ; and entertaining 
such opinion, we proceed to describe the mode 
of making it according to the best lines of fence 
that we have seen, and which have thus far prov¬ 
ed themselves permanent in their object. 
At the end of the fence line, plant a stout, dur¬ 
able, heavy post, at least three feet in the ground, 
the earth well tamped, so that it shall stand per¬ 
pendicular—and if there is any doubt about it, 
brace the post on the straining side, so as to render 
it secure. Then plant a line of common sized 
fence posts, either split or sawed—no matter 
which—at intervals of about sixty feet, if the 
whole line of fence does not extend more than 
four or five hundred feet. If the line is a very 
long one, say half a mile or more, let a post like 
the corner or commencing one be inserted at 
every five or six hundred feet distance, on which 
the wires can be effectually wound from either 
way as a permanent fastening for the whole line 
of wires so stretched. Through the end or com¬ 
mencing post, bore quarter, or half inch holes, be¬ 
ginning at a foot from the bottom, or nearer if it 
be necessary, and at about a foot, or less, or more, 
distance apart—depending on the creatures to be 
fenced against—until it is as high from the 
ground, as the fence is wanted when finished. 
Thus there is a line of posts in range, and the 
first one bored is a guide for all the others. 
As to the Wire and its size. None but wire 
of the best and toughest quality should be 
used, and the size may vary from that of 
a common goose quill down to a rye straw, or 
about number 9. The smaller size, we think, taken 
altogether, is as good as the larger, besides being 
much cheaper, and easier managed. To make 
the wire perfect in quality, and most durable, let 
it be annealed, or thoroughly heated to near or 
quite red heat while in the coil, and afterward 
boiled or scalded in linseed oil. The heating makes 
it soft and pliable, without breaking at a short 
bend or twist. The oiling makes it impervious 
to rust for some years, taking the place of paint. 
To prepare the wire for stretching into the 
fence after annealed and oiled, it should be wound 
off on to a light reel, say a foot in diameter. This 
reel can be made of slats nailed- on to a couple of 
heads, made of boards, through the center of 
which holes can be bored, to admit a round stick 
on which the reel can revolve, to let off the wire 
as it is stretched along the line, one or two men, 
according to its weight, carrying it along. Then, 
having settled the distance from the ground, at 
which the first wire shall be drawn, and the 
distances apart for the other wires, take a stick 
the hight of the fence, and mark it at such 
distances, as the wires are to be apart. Then 
have a hand basket, in which is a hammer, a 
good strong pair of pliers, and a quantity of small 
iron staples cut and bent, with the ends sharpen¬ 
ed to drive, made of the same size annealed and 
oiled wire, as the stretchers are. Thus prepared, 
run the first end of the wire from the reel 
through the lower hole in the starting post, turn 
it round the body of it, and fasten it with your 
pliers. Proceed on to the next post, the man, 
or men carrying the reel, which revolves as you 
pass along, letting off the wire. When arrived at 
the post, measure off with the stick already de¬ 
scribed, and mark the places where the wires 
are to be secured, then laying the lower wire at 
its place, and drawing it as taut as possible with 
the hand, drive in a staple over the wire into the 
post, nearly home, so as to keep the wire well in 
its place. Thus go on for half a dozen posts or 
so, when, if the wire on the reel is not all used, 
it may be cut off, and a turn given round the 
principal post, (one of which should be occasion¬ 
ally set, as before observed,) and secured by a 
twist clinch round the main line of wire for the 
present. Then begin with a new wire, secured 
as the first, where the other is left off, and follow 
to the further end post in this line of fence. 
In this way let the whole line of the lower wire 
be stretched. Then do the next in like manner, 
and so on, until the several strands are com¬ 
pleted as high as you wish the fence to be. As 
it now stands, you have a line of wires secured 
by staples to every post, and these posts fifty, 
sixty, or more or less, feet apart, as you may 
choose. The wires sag, of course, and by a little 
effort almost anything, even a horse or cow, 
might crawl through or break it. Therefore the 
fence is not complete. Now, take a lot of stakes, 
either split or sawed, of durable and hard wood— 
pine and hemlock are too soft and brittle—sharpen 
them at one end, divide them equi-distant be¬ 
tween the posts already set, say ten to fifteen 
feet apart, according to the strength you want 
the fence to be, and drive them with an ax, 
sledge, or maul, about a foot into the ground¬ 
less than a foot will do, but the deeper the stakes, 
the stronger they stand. Then measure off the 
distances for the wires apart, on these stakes, as 
was done on the posts, drive staples over them 
as before, and this part of the job is completed. 
If the wires, as already laid, are not sufficient¬ 
ly taut, get a tool somewhat like an old fashioned 
bed-winch, and go to one end of the wire where 
secured at the post, either at the end or along the 
line of the fence, undo it with the pliers, and ap¬ 
ply the winch, until the required amount of ten¬ 
sion is obtained, and then secure the end of the 
wire by turning it around, as before. This can 
be done with every different strand, bearing in 
mind, however, that all the wires should have an 
equal strain, so as to contract and stretch as near 
as possible with the changes of weather; and 
also minding the temperature of the atmosphere 
when the stretching is done, and allowing, accord¬ 
ing to your judgment, for the required amount of 
contra dion and expansion. In this way, the 
wires w.ll be somewhat loose in extreme hot 
weather, but kept in place, and at their proper 
levels by the intermediate stakes. 
In addition to the wires, and to- secure the foot 
of the fence better against breaches, some builders 
recommend that instead of the bottom wire, a 
line of foot wide boards be nailed on to the posts 
and stakes. We do not consider this board an 
improvement, only as defending the enclosure 
from geese and other small animals, as the wires 
are quite as strong as the board, and not a quarter 
so expensive. Others may prefer to bore all the 
posts, and let the wires pass through these holes ; 
but in this way the reels holding the wire, must 
be stationary, and the wire by one end drawn 
through the whole series of posts. We do not 
think either way particularly preferable, only as 
matter of convenience in putting the fence up. 
The holes in the posts will cause rot sooner 
than the staples, and it is more work to make the 
holes than to drive the staples. After all the 
wires are made taut, and the strain equalized, the 
staples may be driven quite home , and thus the 
wires are effectually secured. 
It will be seen that where trees stand, either 
at the end or along the line of the fence, they 
may be used, if of a hardy kind, to secure the 
wires. They are, of course, better than posts, and 
will save expense. In a very considerable part 
of the United States, where timber is scarce, and 
boards dear in price, wire fence can be adopted 
to advantage. 
EXPENSE. 
This may be more or less according to the 
cost of posts, and stakes, and wire. Altogether, 
the expense need not exceed fifty cents a rod, nor 
should it cost a dollar. Each one who proposes 
to make wire fence, by knowing the value of ma¬ 
terial at his own place, can determine the exact 
cost for himself. As to the efficiency of. the 
fence, we have seen herds of cattle on one side at 
pasture for weeks together, and a field of grain, 
with other plowed crops, on the opposite side of 
the fence, and the cattle never broke through. This 
was the cheapest kind of wire fence, costing not 
more than half a dollar a rod. 
We make the further qualification as to the 
expediency of adopting the wire fence in all clim¬ 
ates. Far north, the contraction by cold, and ex¬ 
pansion by heat is greater than at the South, 
where the tension of the wire is less affected by 
the temperature. The climate will, therefore, 
somewhat govern the expediency or economy of 
its adoption for general fencing purposes. 
Mammoth Leghorn Squash. —Mr. W. S. Car¬ 
penter, of this city, has a country residence in 
Westchester, where he carries on a great num¬ 
ber of experiments with new plants and seeds of 
various kinds—for the love of it rather than for 
profit. In a recent visit to his farm we saw many 
things of interest, which we intend to examine 
further. We were particularly pleased with his 
growing specimens of a comparatively new 
Mammoth Squash, called the “ Leghorn.” They 
looked like large white smooth boulders scattered 
thickly over the field. We were so well pleased 
with them in every respect, that we immediately 
prevailed upon Mr. Carpenter to dispose of all 
his seed to us, to be distributed free among 
our subscribers, and we have put it into our seed 
list, as No. 102. Though we shall have a con¬ 
siderable supply of seed, yet should the demand 
be large, we shall not be able to send more than 
about half-a-dozen seeds to each applicant_ 
enough to give a start, however. 
Since the above was written, Mr. C., has gath¬ 
ered, from six hills, 62 squashes, weighing near 
4500 lbs. in the aggregate. The largest speci¬ 
men weighed 105 lbs. The whole crop averaged 
about 70 lbs. to each squash. 
■ .. . . - "• ■ BKfii S wrnn - - — ■■■» 
Courtesy on one side only, never lasts long. 
